Cleaning apparatus.



G. H. LEWIS. CLEANING APPARATUS. APPLICATION men mus. 1918.

Patented Dec.17,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET ATTORNEYS.

G. H. LEWlS. CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPucA s-nu FILED JULY 9. 1918.

Patented Dec. 17,1918.

SHEET 2.

I VE TOR. fim kfl #M ATTORNEYS.

2 SHEET 8 the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and.

GEORGE H. LEWIS, or CHICOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE FISK RUBBER COMPANY, OF CHIC OPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. I I Y CLEANING- APPARATUS.

LZSS OGL Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 17, 1%18,

Application filed July .I, 1918. Serial No. 244,009.

pair is fixed on a shaft 1.2, which is mounted Be it known that I, GEORGE H. LEWIS, a in a fixed bearing in its bracket 10 while citizen of the United States, residing at the upper roll 13 is revolubly supported by iicopee Falls, in'the county oflHampden a movable bearing 14 (Fig. l) which is 5' and Sta e of Massachusetts, have invented slidable toward and away from roll 11. The 60 certain new and useful mprovement. in earings 14 may be ad'usted in the brackets leaning Apparatus, of which the following by any suitable meansand may, for ex is a specification. ample, be yieldingly urged toward the rolls his invention relates to clea ning or ppl- 11 by suitable springs As shown in Fig. 10- ishing apparatus and more particularly to 1, the several shafts 12 are interconnected improvements in such apparatus to adapt by bevel gear connections with a common To all whom 2''; may concern:

15 While the inventi 311 is capable of general feed rolls 11 may be positively driven, and application, it is particularly designed for the driving connections are such that the and is especially ad vantag'eous as, an autorolls rotate at equal speed. matic cleaning or polishing apparatus foi e driving means described are particuthe bead strips used in tire shoes. Such bead larly designed for propelling materials of a 20 strips, although of generally triangular. plastlc or sem i-plastic nature, which are'not s ape, usually have one or more curved surcapable of withstanding tensile-strains to aces and are of a .nore or less irregular any considerable degree. The driving means cross-sectional sh ape. There are concavities, obviously is capable of handling other maconve xities, grooves, and indentations, which terials and is, therefore, not restricted to the 25 are difficult to reach and effectively clean use mentioned although it 'is particularly and polish i1. ordinary types at apparatus. suitable therefor.

is invention, therefore, has for its ob- .s an illustrative example, the machine ject to provide an improved cleanilig or will be described with reference to its use in polishing apparatus in which 'strips of mahandling and treating strips of rubber, such 30 terial, such as those employed fortire beads, as are used for the beads of tire shoes. These for example, may be treated, as will more beads may be supplied in continuous strip particularly appear in the following descripform and fed into the bight of the several tion and in t e appended claims. pairs of rolls ll and 13 and thereby carried The invention, in in embodiment at presin a Substantially, straight line path. 85 ent preferred, is shown for illustrative pur- These bead strips, such as shown at b in .90

poses in the accomoanyirg drawings, in the drawings, are generally of rather-ira which: regular cross-sectional shape and, although Figure 1 is a rear elevational view of a usually they are substantiallytriangularin I machine embodying the invention; shape, they are not truly so. Tlius', with f 40 2 is a front elevational' view thereof; the bead?) illustrated, none of its sides are +1g. 3 1s a cross-sectional View taken on flat surfaces but, on the contrary, are rounded. One face of the bead shown has Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are fragmentary crossa convex and another a concave curvature,- sectional views taken on the lines 44, 5-5, and the third has a narrowgroove therein. 45 and 66, respectively, of Fig. 2. I arious other shapes of beads are used, and 19p Referring to these drawings, A represents the description ofthe one illustrated is t e main frame or bed plate of the machine merely for the purpose of showing that and mounted thereon in longitudinally beads as-a general class, by reason of their spaced relation are a plurality of upstanding irregular surfaces, are not capable of bein 50 brackets 10. Each of ;he latter revolubly effectively brushed,bufl'-; cl, .or polished b;

-' supports a pair of coucling feeding or drivthe ordinary machines. g ing rolls whiz are rcvoluble in opposite The means for operating upon the bead directionsXand preferably adjustable toward strip 6 are'disposed one between each sucand away From one another. Thus, as shown cessive pair of feed rolls. Such means con- 55 In the-draWmgs the lower roll 11 of each sist' of rotary brushing devices 17, which brushes and preferably arranged as to vertically deflect the head.

application purposes.

carries a pulley 20, and

may be used to buff and polish the bead strip Z) or to clean it by removing particles of rubber, fins, foreign material, and the like, or to roughen the bead prior'to the of cement or. for other-similar Each brush 17 is rotatably journaled in a bracket 18, and eachof the latter is secured to bed A intermediate a pair of the brackets 10'. Each brush 17 is carrie by a shaft 19 and is disposed substantially in a common vertical plane with the feed rolls 11. Each shaft 19, as shown in Fig. 1, the several pulleys 20 are connected by a belt 21, by means 'of which the several brushes may be rotated. Associated with each brush 17 is an idler roll 23, which is suitably grooved to receive and guide the bead strip 12 and is mounted in bracket 18 so as to engage that portion of the bead b opposite from that engaged by its associated brush 17. is held against deflection away from the the rolls 23 are so slightly out of its straight line path between the airs of feed rolls for the purpose of providing. an additional area of frictional engagement between the bead and feed rolls.

It is to be noted that the several'brushes 17 are mounted With their axes in'parallel' relation so that they are effective to engage that each of to be differently -ferent portions of successive rolls during the travel of the 'guiding""ube 24 wiil rolls is exerting an equal pull on the strip, so, that the possibility bead.

bead. Likewise, eac be-differently. shaped froinftl'r' preceding and eiiiciently To insure an efiicient brushing of 'each of the irregular faces of means are provided, between each pair of feed rolls'and the adjacent brush,.to twist one face of the bead strip will be positioned substantially tangential to, and substantially parallel with, the axis of a brush. turning means consists of guiding tubes 24 through which the bead strip Z) is passed as it leaves thefeed rolls. supported from the brackets 10, preferably in a manner to permit convenient removal, as indicated.

" Each of the several rolls 11', 13, and y pairs of feed rolls "relying, upon one feedingxmeans, which, by

are specially grooved to conform to" the con.-

tour of the bead b whereby-the rolls may thereto or engage the bead without injury alteration ofthe shape thereof. It'follows the several rolls will require shaped" inasmuch as difthe head are engaged one, and each tube 24: is so shaped as to impart a gradual The operation be described. Assuming that the strip 7) has beenth'readed through the machine and that power ed so that twist 'in the bead and'has,

twisted by. the sectional shape of which is shown in Fig. 4) to bring the face nof the bead into position Thus, the bead brush only such surfaces of the bead as lie substantially in a plane parallel with their ax'es.

or turn the bead-so that loosening foreign The,

The tubes 24 are turning or twisting of the of thernachine will now which material in strip is applied to the feed rolls and brushes, the strip traveling in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2, wiil be sue cessively engaged by each brush 17 and, prior to such engagement, will also be twista substantially flat engagement betwen the bead and brush will be obtained. Thus, as the strip b leaves the first feed roll 10, its face m (Fig. 3) already lies substantially in the proper'position for engagement by the first brush 17, and .the first tube 24 need,-at most, impart only a slight therefore, chiefly a guiding function. From the exit of the first tube 24 to the second feed roll 10, the

bead strip' 1) is held from twisting by the first roll 23 and by the second pair of feed rolls. As the strip leaves'the latter, it is second tube 2 1 (the crossfor engagement by the second brush 17, as indicated in Fig. 5,and'subsequently the third tube 24 again twists the bead until the third face 0 is positioned for engagement with the third brushfl7 (Fig. 6).

each face of the bead strip is successively presented to a brush as to insure that each of the irregular faces of the strip receives a thorough and effective brushing.

The means for twisting the bead strip dur ing its travel is important for the reasons outlined, and it is also advantageous since the several brushes can be mounted infixed positions and with their-axes in parallel relation so that the'ffsieveral brushes may be conveniently and simply driven. The gradual tw sting of the bead also assists in material on the strip, such as soapstone, talc, and the like. Moreover, the successive twists imparted and the successive vertical deflections by rolls 23, tend to straighten out the bead strip'so that, when the latter emerges from rough: the several might wellcause the'strip, a feeding neansis drawing the bead strip twisting rolls andbrushes,

an elongation 'of applied on each si'dejof eachgroup, compr sing a brush 17, rolis' 23, and tube 24. Thus,

one pair of feed'rolls' pushes on the strip adjacent tube 24 while the next, pair of fee of elongation'of the strip is reduced toa minimums;

and in such a manner reason of .Thus,'I have provided an apparatus in form and of some what irregular cross-section, such as tire beads and the like, may be effectively operated upon by rotary brushing means, for

the machine, it is free not only from foreiggn 110- cleaning, pelisiiing, bniiing, and analogous e EEWist cine strip during its travel so that p11 esesu eeeii side is snccesswely positioned for en- The invention has been (1286 in an embodiment at present p, 5 illnsirairve purpeses, mi lie seep ecf the l I M 7 A! k I invention is defined my me appended claims rather than icy tile fcregcirrg description.

What 1 claim is- 1. In a machine for cleaning" the extericr surfaces of strips of irregular cross secti'cnzei shape feeding and guiding means cperable re ccn fiinncusly' feed sirips of indefiniie e cleaning devices in sec cessire 1e si at icngitndinc na; 03min nenraer strip i miners bei gincnnced ranged to 3 c ly spaced p n2; :lcngiiud' sinks and iwisied trenexersely 0 i-WlStthe sirlp abcui; lengitudniai 3X18? so i'sliet each face oi the strip is successively presented t0 one of said devices;

9 an apparatus cf eire class described ing an i Hiding means to mere a innit side; strip a ma geriel in a predeiermined pailnzi pin; 3 cf rotary brushing devices .1 iie scrip at spaced pcin'cs axes aii said devices beperellel relation, and means devices. the type described,

gagczn ni: by cne of sale 3. In an apparatus of a plurality of spaced driving devices to carry a nnzli'si-sided strip of material ofindefinite length in a predetermined path, a rotary brushing device between adjacent driving devices, and ineaa engageable with the Strip 2% points in its r in sc that each face is successively posione-d substantially fiat engagement with a brush. r

In a machine of the class described, a lit lcngii ndinally feed rolls the axes of which are 211- d in "parallel relation, driving mech; anism t0 couple atileast one roll of each pair (and positively drive the coupled rolls 1n syncllrenisin, a plurality of rater brushes 50 0ngitudi-- c sied passage through which the arranged to and by which the twisted about 1ts-lcng1md1nal strip is strip is enenen H. LEWIS.

travel to. twist the 40 spaced pairs of acent iiruslies and having 9, eransverseiy 5-5 

